Teachers' perspectives on environmental education in multicultural contexts: Towards culturally-responsive environmental education

This inquiry explores teachers' perspectives on enacting environmental education in a Québec urban locale with high student diversity. Participating in focus groups and interviews, teachers from three schools discussed their experiences incorporating environmental education into their multiculturally-diverse classrooms. Challenges included value clashes, a lack of common lived experiences, and reconciling contradictory educational perspectives and political policies, which often placed teachers in paradoxical positions. Findings suggest moving toward practices of culturally-responsive environmental education that demand more than awareness but include interactive dialogue. Teachers need support from beyond the classroom and the capacity to develop curriculum facilitating the inclusion of students' culture.     

New Vision and Challenges in Inquiry-Based Curriculum Change in Singapore

A new primary science syllabus with strong inquiry focus has been implemented in Singapore since 2008. In this study, we attempted to understand how teachers experience the emphasis of inquiry-based curriculum under the current educational conditions that is routined and highly teacher fronted. We invited 50 pre-service and 41 in-service teachers to participate in survey questionnaires and narratives, reflective writings, and group discussions related to science inquiry which formed our data corpus. Data analysis in the form of thematic coding was carried out using NVivo8, with over 80% inter-rater coding agreement level. Three key aspects of teachers’ perceptions of science inquiry were revealed: (1) teachers’ responsibilities as facilitators, (2) privileging content knowledge rather than process skills, and (3) pressure of assessment systems in current educational contexts. These understandings bring out conflicts of inquiry teaching between teacher- and student-centredness, content and process, and curriculum and assessment. Based on these teachers’ perceptions and dilemmas of inquiry science teaching, the visions and challenges of inquiry science curriculum change against assessment requirements are discussed.     

Creating,implementing and integrating a first‐year statistics requirement

We present the process our institution used to create a statistics requirement for almost all incoming first‐year students. From conception and planning, to hiring and acceptance by the university community, we offer lessons learned should you consider making such a shift in your own curriculum.     

Broadening access to the curriculum through using technology to link home and school: a critical analysis of reforms intended to improve students' educational attainment

This article reports on a UK study identifying innovative practice in the use of ICT to link home and school and its potential for enhancing learning. It is set in the context of recent political tensions and the mismatch between ICT use in the home and traditional educational systems. The theoretical framework draws upon curriculum theories and reviews what is already known about home use of ICT. A survey was administered to schools identified for innovative models of practice in both teaching and learning, and management and administration. From the 115 responses, eight contrasting case-study schools were selected. Three exemplars highlight a shift in practices: a move towards self-directed learning; greater flexibility and autonomy for students; and improved communication between home and school. We argue that technology could support a broader access to the curriculum, but that policy-makers should be aware of the digital divide issues. Young people's home use of technology suggests a rich experience involving exploratory activities, access to knowledge and the opportunity to publish their views. Curriculum reform is essential in order to maximize the potential of technology. It demands a shift away from current curriculum and pedagogy towards critical thinking and knowledge construction.     

对我国中小学体育教学模式的理论思考

着重对我国中小学体育教学模式进行理论探讨。提出了多视角、多样化、全方位的体育教学模式新格局,认为提高我国中小学体育教学整体水平的关键在于更新教育观念,建立一定的学说,确定“发展”的体育教学模式。     

图书情报专业课程体系建设的综合化原则

图书情报专业教育课程体系综合化包括 :(1)学科之间的综合 ,又分为相关学科的综合、学科与信息技术最新发展的综合。 (2 )学科与社会要素的综合 ,又分为学科与社会职业要求的综合、学科与社会问题的综合。 (3)学科与学习者的综合 ,又分为综合素质培养及终身教育的综合。参考文献 13。     

From Retrieval Status Values to Probabilities of Relevance for Advanced IR Applications

Information Retrieval systems typically sort the result with respect to document retrieval status values (RSV). According to the Probability Ranking Principle, this ranking ensures optimum retrieval quality if the RSVs are monotonously increasing with the probabilities of relevance (as e.g. for probabilistic IR models). However, advanced applications like filtering or distributed retrieval require estimates of the actual probability of relevance. The relationship between the RSV of a document and its probability of relevance can be described by a normalisation function which maps the retrieval status value onto the probability of relevance (mapping functions). In this paper, we explore the use of linear and logistic mapping functions for different retrieval methods. In a series of upper-bound experiments, we compare the approximation quality of the different mapping functions. We also investigate the effect on the resulting retrieval quality in distributed retrieval (only merging, without resource selection). These experiments show that good estimates of the actual probability of relevance can be achieved, and that the logistic model outperforms the linear one. Retrieval quality for distributed retrieval is only slightly improved by using the logistic function.     

Examining the Causal Relationships Among Selected Antecedents of Responsible Environmental Behavior

Abstract

Attitude models have been widely applied to natural resource management to ensure responsible environmental behavior. For a variety of applications, the causality among selected antecedents, such as knowledge of environmental issues, locus of control, attitude, personal responsibility, and intention to act on responsible environmental behavior has not yet been tested empirically. A hypothesized causal model based on Hine's (1986) model on responsible environmental behavior was developed. The data from 523 visitors to the urban forest trail in the Kwang-Reung Arboretum, Korea, during September 1995 were used for testing the suggested causal model. Path analysis using the LISREL program tested the model fit and statistical effects of variables. In terms of the effects on intention to act, locus of control and attitude are more important than knowledge and personal responsibility. Our findings suggest that in order to enhance responsible environmental behavior, environmental education and interpretation systems need to focus on changing the internal locus of control. Several recommendations, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

MRNS-9000型航海雷达模拟器船型编辑功能的开发

船舶操纵模拟器用于航道、港口开发已是当前先进而有效的手段。本文对“海河通航标准研究”课题在MRNS-9000型航海雷达模拟器上所进行的船型拟合工作作了概述,并提出了在航海雷达模拟器上拟合船舶数学模型时所采用的主要依据,即利用船舶操纵性标准、与在航船舶操纵行为密切相关的标准同船舶数学模型进行拟合。目前,此法已成功地用于“海河通航标准研究”这一课题中。同时,作者对船舶航行时受风力影响的问题也提出了看法。     

《课标》的推行与高校体育教育专业课程方案改革策略的研究

《体育(与健康)课程标准》的推行对体育教师提出了新的挑战,体育教师要适应课改的新形势,就必须完成角色的转换。基础教育改革与高校教师培养的质量息息相关,因此这实际上也是对高校体育教育专业教学改革提出了新的要求。新推出的我国高校体育教育本科专业课程方案给予高校更大的自主权,各高校在实施方案时应根据当前新课程改革的需要,构建合理的课程体系,在教学过程中不断更新教学内容,努力改革教学方法,注重培养学生的创新精神和自学、研究、反思能力。